Nothing Happened
by FreaKyJealousoveralLyCalm4
Summary: When Helga and Arnold spend a Saturday afternoon together, they grow closer to one another, causing them to voice a bond they always knew was there, but prior had never completely admitted.
1. Chapter 1

FreaKyJealousoveralLyCalm4

Disclaimer: I do **not** own Hey Arnold, anything associated with it, or anything recognized. The plot is mine.

Nothing Happened:

A Hey Arnold Fanfiction

Helga's POV:

"Hey Miriam!" I called to my mother. "I'm going out!"

"Oh…okay, Helga," She answered back from the kitchen. "Have fun!"

"I don't know how I can have any fun when Phoebe's _busy_!" I mumbled to myself.

I had planned to spend Saturday with Phoebe, but some unexpected relatives were coming over _and_ she had some homework that "needed to get done." I didn't see why she couldn't just do her homework, that probably didn't even have to be done by Monday, the following day. Good ol' Phoeb, always working ahead.

I ended up taking a stroll because I had nothing to do, and didn't want to be stuck inside with M_ir_iam or _Bob_. Plus, precious _Ol_ga was scheduled to call, and I didn't intend on being home when she did.

As I was walking, looking around for something to do, who did I happen to _literally_ bump into? But—

"Arnold!"

"Helga!"

"You need to learn to watch where you're going football head!" I retorted angrily.

"Sorry, Helga…" Arnold said.

"Jeez! You could kill someone, if you're not careful." I sighed, losing the fire that had previously consumed my heart.

"What's the matter?" Arnold asked.

"What makes you think something's the matter?" I asked, jumping into defense mode.

"You were sighing," Arnold pointed out.

"So? What if I just _feel_ like sighing?"

"Do you?" He asked.

I didn't answer him.

"What are you doing out here anyways football head?"

"What do you mean, Helga?"

"I _mean_…where's Geraldo? Or Stinky or Sid or…_some_one?"

"They're…all busy today," Arnold said with a shrug.

"Phoebe's busy today too," I said quietly.

We gazed at each other for a few minutes.

"Well…since you don't have anything else to do—" Arnold said suddenly.

"Get to it!" I said, my patience low, as usual.

"You want to help me clean out the storage room?"

"What?" I asked, not believing my good fortune.

"The storage room. It's my grandparents' room with all this—"

"I _know_ what a storage room is! Criminy!"

"So…do you want to help?" He asked me in a hopeful tone.

"By doing this, I'm not saying that I _want_ to help you…" I struggled to search for a realistic excuse. "I just don't want to be home all day."

"Whatever you say, Helga," Arnold said with a slight smile.

We walked for a few blocks until we reached Sunset Arms.

A large explosion of a cough suddenly came from my scratchy throat.

"Are you okay?" Arnold asked me, concern evident on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, despite that I felt another cough coming on.

"Are you sure? Because—"

"I'm _fine_, Arnold," I insisted, even though I wasn't.

"Okay," Arnold said. "If you're sure."

"I'm _sure_, now come on…I'll bet there's just tons of junk up there, waiting for us to clean it."

Arnold smiled at me and nodded his head slightly.

~HA~

We worked for a good hour 'til Arnold's grandma came up with some lunch. It was on a plain tray with two paper plates that consisted of egg sandwiches and Yahoo soda. Not much. But a whole lot more than I would've got if I'd been home with Miriam.

"Thanks," I said with a slight but sincere smile.  
She smiled back at me and set the tray on the ground.

Arnold stared at me for a few minutes, confused by my uncharacteristic behavior.

"What?!" I asked self-consciously. "Can't I say _thanks_?"

Arnold nodded.

"Of course," He said quietly. He took a small sip from his soda, watching me the whole time.

"What is it _now_?" I uttered. But my voice came out rough and cracked. I swallowed before taking a sip from my own soda.

Arnold looked at me with concern but said nothing.

I stared back at him, somewhat irritated, but also entranced by his eyes. I knew he was sort of in his own little world, so I decided to take advantage of the situation by leaving it alone. I probably wouldn't get too many moments like this again. Moments where I could openly be calm and happy and just enjoy Arnold's company with_out_ him suspecting something.

I even almost smiled at him, but another stupid cough decided to come right then. It turned into a coughing fit that lasted a good two minutes. I tried to recapture the moment that had been there, but it was gone.

"We better get back to work," I said, not knowing what else to say. I put my soda back on the tray, and started to take something out of a nearby box.

"But Helga, you haven't ate anything," Arnold said. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Not too much," I admitted. "Maybe I'll be hungrier later. Don't sweat it, Arnold."

"I guess…" Arnold said hesitantly. "But you should finish your soda at least."

I sighed. "O_kay_! I'll _drink_ my soda!" I said with fake enthusiasm. I quickly downed the remainder of the bottle, and turned back to Arnold.

"Happy?" I asked.

"Very," Arnold said with a chuckle.

I suddenly began to feel cold and shivered because of this.

"Is it cold in here or what?" I asked suddenly, despite that I could see sunshine pouring through an open window.

"Are you kidding?" Arnold asked as he brushed some sweat from his forehead. "It's steaming in here."

"Says you," I said in a bored tone.

_I'm annoyed…but yet…I am also immensely flattered. Arnold—my Arnold—is worried about me. He's checking on me every few minutes, every time I cough, checking to see if I'm okay. Oh Arnold, you're too sweet, too kind for your own good, especially for a mere 15 year old boy. But naturally you are more, much more, than a mere 15 year old boy. You are a boy with—"_

"Helga?" Arnold asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"What?"

"What were you looking at?"

"Huh?" _Oh no…what was I doing _this_ time?_

"You were looking out the window, but I couldn't tell what at."

"Oh…it wasn't anything _that _good…"

Arnold stared at me and sighed slowly.

"What?" I snapped.

"Nothing, Helga…"

"Hey shortman!" Arnold's grandpa called from downstairs. "Your phone is ringing!"

"Okay, Grandpa!" Arnold called back. "I'll be right back, Helga."

"Yeah…" I said. "Whatever…"

Once he sounded far enough away, I crept out of the room and tiptoed up the stairs to his room.

"So you got your project done?" I heard Arnold ask whoever was on the other end of the call. "That's great!"

Then there was a pause and a shake of the head. "Sorry…I can't come over." Another pause. "Well, I made other plans."

_ Other plans? He couldn't possibly be talking about...?_

"Yeah, just cleaning out the old storage room with Helga."

_So he_ is_ talking about me…._

There was then a splutter of sounds coming from the phone.

"I'm not crazy!" Arnold defended. "She's…"

Then he sighed.

"Okay. Maybe later…" Another pause. "How about five o' clockish? Alright…I'll see you then, Gerald."

_So _that's_ who he was talking to! Why didn't I guess that?_

I quickly made my way back up the stairs before Arnold could catch me. I acted like I was busy sorting things when he entered the room.

"Who was it?" I asked, acting like I wasn't interested, considering I'd just heard about everything I needed to.

"Just Gerald," Arnold replied. "He wanted to know if I could come and hang out."

"So why didn't you?" I asked, with a raise of my eyebrow.

"Because," Arnold said. "I made plans with you, didn't I?"

I smirked slightly. "You know these aren't official plans, football head."

"Yeah, I know…" He said with a slight smile and a shrug. "But they're still plans."

I shrugged back in reply despite that I was cheering inside.

_He wants to keep _our _plans instead of hang out with Gerald! He wants to be locked up in a hot, stuffy, old room with me!_

I glanced over at Arnold, who was hunched over peering at the tray.

"You hungry, yet?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Nah…maybe I'll eat it later, okay?"

Arnold nodded.

"Yeah…okay…" he said.

~HA~

Three hours later, it was 4:30 and the storage room was looking pretty good. Arnold and I had cleaned it up, so everything was nicely organized, and so you could actually _walk_ in the place. The door didn't shut because it'd been pried in a position where it couldn't for so long due to all the junk…but overall I think we did a good job.

We lay down, our backs on the peeling, wood ground.

"Hey Arnold…?" I asked. My long, blonde hair splayed out behind me, mere inches from Arnold's own beautiful, blonde crown.

"Yeah, Helga?"

"What do we do now?"

"What do you mean, Helga?"

"_Criminy_, you sure do like saying my name, don't you Arn_oldo_?" Before Arnold could utter a word I spoke again, in an attempt to redeem myself from my prior outburst.

"…What I mean is? What do we _do_ now? Do we act like…this never happened?"

I could hear Arnold slowly turn from his back to his side.

"No, we can't do that…" Arnold said quietly.

"Then what?"

"We…act like we've been all day," Arnold said with confidence. "We _are_ friends, Helga—"

"Oh yeah? Says who?"

"I do. We can be friends…and have things still be okay."

"_No_. No, we can't!"

"Why not?" Arnold asked. He rolled over to his side, so he was looking at me.

I continued to lay on my back and stare at the ceiling.

"Because…" I said quietly. "I…I wouldn't know what to do then."

"You wouldn't have to do anything…you'd just have to be yourself."

"It's not as easy as it sounds…"

"Sure it is—"

"For _you_, maybe…but for…_me_, it's not, so…you better quit trying _bucko_!"

"Helga…I know you don't really mean that…hasn't this day meant anything to you?"

"Sure it has, Arnold…"

"Then act like it," He said shortly. And with that, Arnold got up from his spot on the floor, his presence growing further and further away.

I couldn't take it.

"Arnold, wait!" I called out to him. I quickly launched my body upward into a sitting position.

"I'm right here, Helga," Arnold said. He was by the door, only a few feet away from me, despite how far the distance had felt.

"Oh…" I said embarrassed. "I thought…"

Arnold then knelt down in front of me, just as I went into another coughing fit. My throat _really_ hurt.

"Helga, you sound really sick," Arnold whispered. He was still kneeling beside me and staring at me with a concerned expression. "I should've sent you home earlier…"

"_No_, you shouldn't have...because…" I said through another cough. "I had fun today, Arnold."

"I had fun too, Helga," Arnold said with a smile.

He got up and extended his hand in the direction of mine. I took it and he pulled me up.

The walk to my house was a dim blur. I recall passing houses and trees and stuff...but I was so tired and nothing really seemed important. In fact, I was so tired that I could barely keep myself upright. Arnold sort of held onto my hand, gently pulling me along the whole way.

Once we reached my house, I yawned, feeling completely drained.

Arnold reached out to press my doorbell when I stopped him.

"Hey Arnold…?" I asked through a cough.

"Yeah, Helga?" Arnold asked glancing back at me.

I yawned again, causing my eyes to fill with tears.

"Thanks for inviting me over," I said. "It was really nice getting to hang out with you."

Arnold smiled.

"It was really nice getting to hang out with you too, Helga," He said. "I hope we can do it again sometime."

"Yeah…" I said, too tired to put up my usual front. "Me too…"

Suddenly, the door was opening, and I was climbing stairs, _too _many stairs, and I was waking up to darkness and stars outside my window. I was safely tucked into my bed without my shoes or socks on.

_How did I get here?_

I glanced around, trying to recall something to help me make sense of how I'd got where I was, when a jagged piece of paper on my nightstand caught my eye. I picked it up and began to read.

_Helga,_

_You were so tired when we got to your house. I didn't want to wake you, so I thought it better for me to bring you up to your bed. I know I said this a lot already, at least it feels that way, but I have to say again that I really had fun today. I hope you feel better and find a good medicine to get rid of your cold. _

_Your friend, _

_Arnold_

I smiled to myself remembering what Arnold had said earlier.

_We can be friends..._

And he was right. We could be friends...even if I wanted us to be more, even if my "teasing" came out again, even if I still loved him and wasn't sure if he'd _ever_ love me...we could be friends. And maybe, if I was lucky, one day, we could be even more than that.


	2. Chapter 2

FreaKyJealousoveralLyCalm4

In all honesty, I actually accidentally marked this story in-progress because I intended it to be a one-shot. But when I saw all the feedback I was getting, I decided to turn it into a multi-chapter story.

Disclaimer: I do **not** own Hey Arnold, anything associated with it, or anything recognized. The plot is mine.

Nothing Happened:

A Hey Arnold Fanfiction

Arnold's POV:

It was Monday and two days after Helga had helped me to clean out the storage room. Gerald and I were walking to school together because it was such a nice morning.

"I can't believe you willingly spent six and a _half_ hours with her," Gerald said while shaking his head.

"She's really not that bad, Gerald," I insisted.

Gerald continued to shake his head. "Arnold?"

"Yeah?"

"We _are_ talking about the same girl, right?"

"Yeah."

"The same girl we _both_ know has been an evil, conniving, she-bully since almost as long as we can remember?"

"_Yes_," I said with a sigh. "Except…"

"Except what?"

"She's…not like that anymore, Gerald," I explained with a shrug.

"Mm hmm…" Gerald mumbled, unconvinced.

"Seriously! I think Helga's matured significantly this year."

I turned my head away from Gerald as I started to feel myself blush.

"That may be true," Gerald agreed. "But it doesn't mean that she's going to be all buddy-buddy with you now."

I shrugged. "You never know…"

"There you go again," Gerald said with a sigh.

"What are you talking about, Gerald?" I asked.

"Your whole 'looking on the bright side' thing," Gerald explained.

The moment we walked into the school, I spotted Helga. She was hunched over in front of her locker in her pink hoodie. She was completely still with her eyes closed causing her to appear calm and focused. I studied her only for a few seconds when the warning bell rang. Helga quickly jolted from…whatever she was doing, and made her way down the hall.

~HA~

I attempted to focus on my studies, but failed, my thoughts always going back to Helga and her well being. In every class we'd had together she'd seemed to be either drifting off or face down on her desk.

I continued to think about her as I walked to my usual table with the guys.

"Today's the day guys," Sid confessed eagerly, as his tray hit the round table.

"Gee wilikers!" Stinky exclaimed, as he took a seat by Sid. "Ya really gonna do it?"

"'Course I am," Sid said confidently. "I just need the right timing."

Sid wearily focused his attention on the table across the lunchroom. The same table he'd been staring at for the past three weeks.

"What was wrong with the timing _last_ week?" Gerald asked.

"Or the week before that?" Harold added.

"The timing wasn't good enough!" Sid explained with a dismissive wave of his hand. "But today, to_day_ is the day…don't ya think, Arnold?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…today's your day," I agreed distractedly.

"What are you looking at, man?" Gerald asked.

"Um…"

"Don't _tell_ me you're looking at—" Gerald began.

"Gerald…" I interrupted, knowing that he knew ex_act_ly who I was looking at.

"Arnold, you have _got_ to be kidding me," He said.

We locked eyes, trading unspoken messages back and forth.

"What's going on?" Sid asked quickly.

"Nothing," Gerald and I said at the same time.

Sid squinted, whipping his head from Gerald to me, to Gerald, to me again.

"Sure…"

"It's nothing, Sid," I said.

"Okay…" Sid said calmly. "Who were you lookin' at then?"

I bit my cheek. "Helga…" I admitted while glancing up from beneath my eyelashes.

I decided this was the best time to start eating my lunch. I couldn't say anything else if there was food in my mouth.

"Helga?" Sid asked, his voice coming out like I'd just stabbed my fork into his neck.

"Helga Pa_t_aki?" Stinky repeated, trading a quick glance with Sid.

"Yeah…" I answered after I'd swallowed.

"What're you looking at her for?" Sid asked leaning over the table.

I sighed, realizing I wasn't going to be able to eat unless I explained myself—to some extent—to the guys.

"I'm just worried about her. That's all."

"Worried about 'er?" Sid asked.

"Did she threaten to beatcha up again?" Stinky asked.

"No," I said with a shake of my head.

"Did she trip you or something?" Sid guessed.

"Nope."

"Did she budge in front of you in the lunch line?" Harold asked. "She did that to me once…or twice…or—"

"No!"

"Well what _is _it then?" Sid asked his tone desperate.

"I'm just…worried about her," I said with a shrug. "I'm not quite sure how to elaborate."

"Well fig-ure it _out_!" Sid said, pounding his right hand on the table. "You're killing me, Arnold."

I glanced around the table.

"Why do you guys care why I was staring at Helga anyways?"

I didn't give them time to answer. I got up, leaving my fairly full tray behind me. I made my way across the room to the exact same table Sid had been looking at. But I was going over there for a different reason, and a different person, than Sid.

I was only around three feet from the table when I realized…I had no idea what I was going to say. Luckily—and maybe unluckily—I didn't have to.

"Arnold!" Rhoda called out to me.

"Uh…hi Rhonda," I said.

From out of the corner of my eye, I could see the guys watching me. Sid was seething, gripping onto the table. I quickly turned my focus back to the issue at hand.

"Look Rhonda, I uh…I actually came over here to talk to someone else…"

"Oh…" Rhonda said. "Well…you could still sit by us."

"No, that's okay. I'm not going to—"

"Nonsense," Rhonda said a little too loudly. "Take that chair, by Phoebe."

I glanced over the table of girls, girls that I'd gone to elementary school with and, over time, had become friends with.

"Fine," I said with a sigh. "Hi Phoebe."

"Hello Arnold," Phoebe greeted me.

I glanced over at the person who was on the other side of me.

"Is she okay?" I asked, glancing at Helga again.

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest," Phoebe began. "This morning, when Helga and I briefly talked, she seemed rather ill."

"Ill?" I asked. "I just thought she was tired."

"That could be part of it," Phoebe agreed. "But I think it's something else as well."

"Why didn't she stay home?"

"I don't know…but I…might be able to guess," Phoebe said.

I stared at her for a few minutes, trying to decipher what she meant, when Helga began to move.

"Oh…hey Arnold," Helga mumbled to me with a yawn.

"Hey…Helga…did you go to sleep last night?"

"Hmm…for a few hours…I think," She said with a shrug.

I looked at her incredulously to see if she was serious. She was.

"Helga, you can't do that," I tried to explain. "That's not healthy."

"It's o_kay_, Arnold," She said in this slow measured out way.

"No, it's not," I insisted. "Why were you up anyways?"

"Why do you _care_?" She asked with a sigh.

"Helga…_an_swer me," I said in a quiet, yet demanding, tone.

"Oh, I would, ex_cept_…" Helga said, gesturing behind me. "I think someone wants to talk to you."

All of the girls at the table, which, I just realized, had been intensely studying me and Helga, turned to see Sid.

"Hello ladies," Sid said smoothly. "Arnold. Ol' buddy. Let's _talk_. _Right_ now, okay?"

"Sid—"

"Right _now_, Arnold," Sid said in a tone that meant _not_ to mess with him.

I nodded with a sigh.

"Excuse us," I said to the girls.

I followed Sid out of the lunchroom and into the hallway.

"_What_ ex_act_ly did you _think_ you were doing?" Sid asked, obviously angry.

"Look. Sid. Me and Rhonda—"

"You and Rhonda?!"

"_Listen_. We were only talking."

"About me, I'll bet," Sid said, paranoid. "And _then_ I saw you chatting it up with Phoebe too. Why don't you just…tell everyone, Arnold? I mean, seriously. What's stopping you?"

"Sid, the only reason, okay, the _main_ reason I was going over there was to talk to _Helga_."

"To Helga?"

"Yes," I said calmly.

"_And _tell that gossipy table of _girls_ _my_ business!"

"No! I _only _talked to Rhonda, Phoebe, and Helga."

"Yeah. But we_ all_ know Rhonda's got a mouth on her…"

"Look Sid…I don't know what to tell you," I admitted through a sigh.

"What _you_ need to tell _me_ is…WHY YOU TOLD!"

"I _didn't_!"

"ARE YOU _SURE, _ARNOLD?! I SAW YOU—"

"SID! She has _no_ idea…I promise," I said with another sigh.

"You promise…?" Sid contemplated. "Alright…"

"So…you're okay…?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. _But _no going back to that table today."

"Why?"

"Because…if you're over there you'll make me nervous…" Sid admitted. "More than I already am that is."

"So you're really…?"

"Yep," Sid said with a sigh. "I'm going to ask Rhonda out."

~HA~

I listened to Sid and went back to our table to finish my lunch.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any afternoon classes with Helga, so I didn't get a chance to confront her.

But just as I was exiting my last class of the day…SMACK!

"Football head!"

"Sorry Helga," I said, extending my hand to her.

"I'll help myself up, thanks," She said angrily.

"I didn't mean to bump into you," I rambled. "I just wasn't watching where I was going and—"

"I know. I know…" Helga said with a sigh. "It was _my_ fault. I wasn't watching where I was going."

She sounded so upset and apologetic. I couldn't let her just go.

"Helga?" I asked gently.

"Wh-what?" She asked quietly.

"Come over?" I pleaded.

She stared at me, her eyes sad and searching.

"Okay," She whispered eventually.

Almost no one was in the hall at this point, so we were practically alone when we left the school.

"What's wrong?" I asked suddenly.

"I'm…I'm tired," Helga mumbled with a shrug.

"Yeah…but _why_ are you tired? …Why were you up late enough to _be_ tired?"

"Why do you wanna know so badly?" She mumbled her tired…beautiful…eyes gazing outward instead of directly at me.

"Because…I…I care about you, Helga," I admitted.

She stopped walking and stared at me. I stopped too.

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

"Arnold…what are you…trying to _do_ to me?!" She exploded.

Helga began to stalk off at a far too rapid pace for my brain to understand.

"What-what do you mean?"

I felt like I was asking that question a lot lately.

"I mean…I mean…UGH!" Helga spluttered searching for words. She threw her head back, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath.

"Arnold," She said evenly.

"Yes?"

"You…" She began, cutting herself off before she'd even started.

I peered at her, curious.

"I what?" I whispered.

"You…should get going…your grandparents…are probably worried."

"No, it's-it's okay," I said dismissively. "I…"

"You what?" She whispered.

"I _want_ to…be here…with…you," I muttered.

She smiled slightly then looked down. This caused me to notice how long her eyelashes were, and how interesting it was to see a side of Helga that most didn't get to.

"Let's…let's get going," She whispered, still not meeting my gaze.

"Okay," I replied.

As we started off for the boarding house, I had this sudden urge to grab her hand. But that was crazy right? Me and Helga…holding hands?


End file.
